The Cuban regime celebrates this Sunday one of its favorite anniversaries, the anniversary of the assault on the Moncada Barracks, called National Rebellion Day. It does so 73 years after Fidel Castro and a handful of young people failed in their attempt to take the military barracks in Santiago, the second city of their country.
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It was there that the leader of the Revolution began to become famous, despite the defeat. Afterwards came the trial and his historic speech of “History will absolve me”, his subsequent exile and everything that came after.
Today’s rebellion in Cuba is represented by its citizens, who have increased their protests in the streets in recent days amid power outages. At night and also during the day. Popular weariness thus marks the revolutionary celebration, which this time has not featured the presence of Raúl Castro, Army General, who has already turned 95.
“Receive this July 26th the affection and my recognition for having earned, with your effort, dedication to the revolutionary cause and creative work, the great honor of being the venue for the central event,” read President Miguel Díaz-Canel in the message sent by Raúl to the inhabitants of Pinar del Río, east of Havana, host of the national celebration.
Since the younger Castro was indicted in May by the United States, which accuses him of the death of four aviators from the organization Hermanos al Rescate, which during the rafters’ crisis was dedicated to saving migrants lost in the Caribbean, Raúl Castro has measured his public appearances. And he has done so precisely when his favorite grandson and head of escorts, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, El Cangrejo, was in the eye of the storm by becoming the interlocutor of the US State Department in a diplomatic rapprochement amid the energy blockade against the Revolution.
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“The age factor and health, which is usually treated as a state secret, must carry weight in Raúl Castro’s agenda. But whether he attends the Moncada celebration or not, it is obvious that the country is not in a mood for celebrations. In fact, discontent and protests are growing,” explains Yaxis Cires, from the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH), to EL MUNDO.
The Cuban president took the opportunity to repeat the same official rallying cry, stating that “Cuba is fighting a historic battle, a new assault on Moncada”. Díaz-Canel complained that Washington, which in its dialogues with El Cangrejo has demanded his head, considering him one of the main bulwarks against changes, “has declared a world war against the left and Cuba, as the capital of communism in the 21st century”.
Beyond governmental rhetoric, street protests continue with renewed vigor against the Revolution. On Friday night, several neighborhoods in Havana, such as Lawton, or neighboring municipalities, such as San Miguel del Padrón and Diez de Octubre, banged their pots because power outages exceed even 35 hours in the middle of the Caribbean summer. Videos collected by citizens and forwarded to organizations such as the OCDH confirm the deployment of repressive forces, whose main mission is to prevent any type of social unrest.
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